Trump Says He’s Giving Kim Jong-un a Signed CD With “Rocket Man” on It

Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Donald Trump during their summit in Singapore.

Saul Loeb/Getty Images

President Trump comes from a generation reared on vinyl—but he may be among those who still value compact discs and the custom of exchanging them as tokens of affection.

To wit: CNN reported Tuesday that Trump plans to give the man he dubbed “Little Rocket Man” a copy of a CD containing Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” complete with the president’s autograph.

The news broke after Trump confirmed to reporters that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had taken a Trump-signed copy of the British crooner’s Honky Château CD with him on a recent trip to North Korea. Pompeo had gone to negotiate the recently signed nuclear agreement between the two leaders. But Pompeo did not meet with Kim, who was reportedly at a potato farm during the secretary of state’s visit. So Pompeo returned the CD to the president.

When asked about the CD outside the White House on Tuesday, Trump told reporters, “They didn’t give it; I have it for him. But it will be given in a certain period.”

He also said he plans to give the North Korean dictator “another little gift,” but declined to mention details. “You’ll find out what that gift is when I give it,” he said.

Trump and Kim Jong-un have had a rocky relationship. The leaders met last month for the summit in Singapore on denuclearization, just months after lobbing insults at each other that included Trump calling Kim “short and fat” and Kim calling Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.” The two also warned each other about the respective “nuclear buttons” on their desks.

But since the runup to their meeting, that rhetoric has changed. In April, Trump called Kim “very honorable.”

At the Singapore summit, Trump and Kim reportedly discussed “Rocket Man” during lunch; according to South Korean newspaper the Chosun Ilbo, Trump asked Kim if he knew the song. Kim said he didn’t.